99 senators offer up mortgage details

More than a week after Politico asked all 100 senators about the circumstances surrounding their home loans, just one — Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) — has failed to provide any information in response to the survey.

Public records obtained by Politico show that Cantwell has a mortgage with Countrywide Financial Corp. — the same company that provided special VIP mortgage deals to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)

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Presented with public records Wednesday, Cantwell spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton said that Cantwell originally obtained the mortgage on her Edmonds, Wash., home from U.S. Bank but that U.S. Bank subsequently sold the loan to Countrywide.

It’s a common practice for mortgages to be sold after they’re originated, and the transfer often happens without any involvement by the homeowner.

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Asked if Cantwell had any contact with Countrywide during the transaction, Clayton said, “Not that I’m aware of.” Asked if Cantwell received any special terms on the loan, Clayton said, “I don’t know the details.” Clayton said Cantwell’s Washington, D.C., condominium is financed through U.S. Bank.

[Update: Clayton said Thursday afternoon that the mortgage on Cantwell's Edmonds home was subsequently transferred to Wells Fargo. Clayton said that, after further checking, she has determined that Cantwell did not know that her mortgage was being transferred from U.S. Bank to Countrywide and had nothing to do with the process. Clayton has also now provided direct answers to each of the three questions Politico asked in its mortgage survey.]

Last week, Politico began asking each of the 100 Senate offices to answer three questions: Who is the senator’s home mortgage lender? Whom did the senator contact to arrange the loan? And did the senator receive any special terms?

Some offices responded to the inquiries immediately — many of them reporting that the senators had no mortgages. Others responded only after repeated inquiries.

A handful of offices still have not provided answers to one or more of the questions.

The offices of Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said only that the senators did not obtain mortgages through Countrywide and did not obtain special deals.

“We’re not going to comment further,” Kyl spokesman Ryan Patmintra said. “We’ve provided you with the information that goes to the heart of your story: who holds Countrywide mortgages and/or received special terms or pricings with their mortgages. I believe we’ve made clear that neither applies to Sen. Kyl.”

Burr spokesman Chris Walker said his boss got no special deals and did not borrow from Countrywide but that Burrdoes not want to publicly reveal his mortgage lender, because “he represents a state with two of the four largest banks in the country [Wachovia and Bank of America] and doesn’t want to appear as though he’s picking favorites.”